


System Restore

by mwaters



Category: Inspector Gadget (Cartoon), Inspector Gadget 2015
Genre: Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Isolation, M/M, Non-Consensual Touching, Pain, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slash, slow burn stockholm syndrome, tame at first but will get rougher later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-08-14
Packaged: 2019-04-21 16:10:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14288592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mwaters/pseuds/mwaters
Summary: Having finally captured his long-time nemesis, Dr. Claw sets out to re-programs and re-train Inspector Gadget into the perfect MAD agent.  He's successfully hacked into Gadget's electronics system, but can he hack into his heart?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm using the canon from both the original cartoon as well as the 2015 reboot, more so the former. Might use a smattering of canon from the live action movies, too. Everything else is headcanon.

Inspector Gadget woke up strapped to a table. His surroundings were a bleak room, cabinets shoved against the walls, with bits and pieces of dismantled electronics littering the surfaces. When he first woke up to this place, Gadget was not overly alarmed, just confused. He had no idea how he got there. The last thing he could remember was chasing after a MAD agent through the Metro City Botanical Gardens. He could distinctly recall sharp aromas from the plants, even the path he had taken in his pursuit. 

As the sleepy fog cleared from his head, Gadget retraced that path, imagining the trees along the walkway, the aromas from the many flowers. No matter how fast the perp had run, Gadget had kept up. As he recalled the pursuit now, he realized he could not remember when it ended. Or how. His last image was a thick fir tree branch snapping back at his face.

He relaxed, deciding that this was all due to a preventable accident at the park. Obviously, whoever was in charge of pruning the trees had forgotten about that particular fir; Gadget intended to have a talk with the owners of the park and offer his suggestions for improved safety procedures. He then scanned his surroundings, and believed himself to be in some sort of infirmary. Though why he was strapped down, he couldn't tell. He didn't like it much, but he was wiling to remain still until a nurse came to check on him. At which point, Gadget was confident, everything would get sorted out, and he could get back to work. The perp was long gone by now, but Gadget wasn't discouraged by that; it just meant he'd have to flex his detective skills tracking the MAD agent down. He smiled at the promise of challenge. 

Once he decided he was ready to get back to it, he called out, “Oh, Nurse! You can come in here now!” He grinned, eager to see what his nurse looked like.

Two men walked in, both of them with lab coats and piercing gazes. Gadget's grin lessened at his disappointment; they hadn't exactly the pretty, attentive faces Gadget hoped for. But he was glad to see them, anyway, as their presence promised release. 

He found it odd that neither one spoke to him, and that they both immediately busied themselves in the back of the room, with the metal boxes and wires and devices. Gadget turned his head to try to see. He was able to extend his neck five inches or so, but the moment he tried to extend it farther, he felt a sharp scraping sensation from deep inside his neck, caustic enough to stun him a moment.

He brought his head back into its normal position, a grimace on his face. The pain subsided, but Gadget was far from happy. He figured he must have hit that tree branch harder than he thought, and clearly, he was not healed yet. “Say,” he called out to the silent strangers. One of them came closer to the table with a box in his arms. Gadget said to him, “Would you come take a look at my neck, sir? There seems to be something...” he trailed off as he experienced the same scraping pain in his arm when he tried to extend it past the restraining cuff. “Well...that's not right!” he said, making an effort to speak as calmly as he could, and not reveal how much it actually hurt. “You'd better take a look at my arm, too!” he added.

“Sure,” the man said with a smirk. He brought the box over and let it drop onto Gadget's belly.

By now Gadget's confidence was faltering. He snapped at the man, “Hey, watch where you're putting that thing! It's heavy!”

The man just chuckled and rummaged through the box until he pulled out what he wanted: a screwdriver. Or so it seemed to Gadget, who was now more interested in the object than the box on his gut. He was still annoyed at the rude treatment, but calmed down considerably now that he assumed he was going to be helped. “I doubt you'll get very far with that thing,” he huffed. “But if that's all you got, I'll take it. You can access my system through the scalp, you see,” he lectured, turning his face away from the man. 

The other man had emerged from the back of the room. He carried nothing; he just stood back and watched as the first man activated the tool. The device vibrated in his hand. Bright white arcs of electricity crackled in and out of existence around the the sharp metallic end. 

As Gadget gazed at the sparks with calm interest, the man waved the screwdriver-like tool over Gadget's arm, keeping it just out of contact with his sleeve. 

“No, no, not there!”Gadget chastised him. “I told you-”

A sudden, powerful shock shot through his arm, enough to stun him for a moment. The shock had taken his breath away—literally—so he did not cry out despite the pain. When it was over, he threw a fierce look at the man and yelled, “Don't you know what you're doing? You could have killed me!”

The man spoke at last. “Killed? Nah.” He moved along the edge of the table and stood just behind Gadget's head. Holding Gadget's head down by the forehead with one hand, the man pressed the tip of his electronic tool against Gadget's neck. “Won't get my bonus if you die.” 

He flicked the switch, and the current raced down Gadget's spine, arcing and shooting through the components inside him. This time, the inspector did cry out. He pulled against his restraints and screamed as the electricity fried his insides, or so it felt to him. Whatever was happening within did not seem to affect his exterior; the man standing over him was able to maintain skin to skin contact without getting shocked himself. 

The man had his tongue out in concentration, a frown over his focused eyes. As the electrical pulses were sent out from the tip, the man dragged the edge of the tool along the side of Gadget's neck and pressed it against key spots. Then he stopped abruptly, and put the tool back in the box. Gadget's eyes drooped closed, his body like a deflating balloon once it was over. His breathing was shallow and light. With effort, he whispered, “Still...still not the right spot...” 

The man shook his head and shot a derisive look down on Gadget's pale, sweating face. He looked to his partner and said, “OK. That part's done. You wanna go get him?”

His partner frowned as he looked down on Gadget. “We better test it first,” he said. “The limbs were the easy part.”

“Yeah,” said the first man. He gave Gadget's shoulder a rude shove. “Hey, pig! Lemme see one 'a yer watchamacallits come out.” When Gadget didn't answer, still dazed, the man snapped his fingers in front of Gadget's face. Gadget blinked slowly and looked at him. “Go on! Let's see yer little helicopter or somethin'.” 

Gadget fixed an intense glare on the man, causing the color to rush back to his face. He tried again to yank his arms free of the straps, in vain. “You are completely incompetent!” he scolded. “I'll have you know, I'm going straight to your supervisor for this! Now get these off me!”

The man smirked. “You wanna leave here?” he taunted. “Get out yourself. We won't stop you.” 

Gadget huffed with exasperation. “Well! That's exactly what I intend to do! Go-Go Gadget Sciss-” but before he could even finish his sentence, he was overcome with violent electrical shocks once again. This time they localized in his head, and it sounded like a storm raging between his ears. His jaw clenched shut reflexively, and he grunted in agony until the shocks passed. 

The two men smiled at each other. The first one nodded in satisfaction and removed the box from Gadget, taking it to the back of the room. The second one stood back and crossed his arms as Gadget turned his attention to him. “Listen, I mean no offense to your partner there, but I can't stay here! Something's very wrong with my gadgets!”

“You don't say!” the man answered. As Gadget sputtered a frustrated reply, the man ignored him, watching his partner come back. 

As the duo went for the door, Gadget shouted after them, “You can't leave me here! This is obstruction of justice!” 

The first man came back to pat Gadget on the shoulder. “Don't worry, buddy. Doc's on his way right now.” He and his partner chuckled and left the room, leaving the door open. 

“Ahh...the doctor's on his way,” Gadget said to himself as he helplessly watched the men leave. He decided to wait for the “doctor” to arrive before attempting to bring out any more gadgets, just in case. He was sore from deep within his bones from the last attack. 

His eyes were closed when the “doctor” came in and closed the door. Gadget sighed deeply in relief. “You came just in time, Doctor,” he said. “I don't know how much more of this I can take.” 

“There, there,” this new man said, his voice raspy and rough, as he came up to the table and gripped the edge of it. “You're in good hands now,” he said with a low chuckle. He gently squeezed Gadget's shoulder, and then slowly dragged his hand up along his neck. 

Gadget stiffened, his face set tight and tense, as his skin crawled from the cold, odd feeling hand. In fact it didn't feel like a hand at all. He opened his eyes sharply and stared at the metal appendage stroking the side of his face. The “doctor”gazed down on him with a soft, yet smug, smile, and said nothing. For now he wanted to enjoy watching the inspector put two and two together. If he could. 

The man's face didn't ring any bells for Gadget. But his metallic hands did. A thought raged in his head clear as any warning bell: he knew who this was. He didn't say anything at first, as he still harbored the hope that he was wrong. He'd never seen Dr. Claw's face, after all. He could be wrong. 

As the strange man studied him, Gadget thought of how he might find out for sure. He asked him, in his calmest voice, “Would you help me out of these?” and tugged on the straps at his wrists. He figured if this were his nemesis, he would refuse. 

But instead the man was only too happy to comply. He smiled pleasantly as he undid the straps, while Gadget lay still and watched him. He couldn't take his eyes off those hands. Once he was unstrapped, Gadget began to sit up, but Claw pushed him back down with a steely cold hand on his chest. He then wagged a gray finger in his face and said, “We're not finished here, Gadget.” His unfamiliar eyes shone with intent. 

“Well I am,” Gadget fired back. He put his hand over Claw's, careful to avoid stabbing himself on his spiky bracelet, and attempted to pry it off. “And if you don't want to be charged with interfering with-”

Claw dropped his genial smile, and his eyes narrowed. He kept his hand on Gadget's chest and pushed down even harder as he leaned in close. “Oh, there will be no more of that,” he said, his voice almost soft, crooning. “Not ever again.” He stared hard into Gadget's eyes and then cracked a grin. “I promise you won't miss it,” he added, and broke into a rumbling laugh as he let his hand drag off Gadget's body. 

Gadget waited until Claw had started for the back of the room, before tumbling off the table. He'd meant to leap off it, of course, but he hadn't counted on his legs weakening on him. Undeterred by the spill, he rushed to the door. It was locked. 

“You might as well stay in here,” Claw said from the back of the room. He wasn't even facing Gadget. “You wouldn't like it out there. Not yet anyway.” 

“You have one more chance to cooperate, Dr. Claw!” Gadget declared. 

“Ahh! You did figure it out, good for you,” Claw said, turning around with something in his hand. “I would have been very disappointed if you hadn't recognized me.” He walked back toward Gadget, who had by now given up on the door, and turned to face his enemy. 

“Dr. Claw,” Gadget said. “You are under arrest. Stay right where you are!”

Claw did stop, but only because this amused him. He crossed his arms and grinned indulgently as Gadget tried to use the phone embedded in his hand. He watched with a growing sneer as the inspector yelled into his palm with no luck. 

“Such delicate circuitry you have,” Claw said. “I'm afraid your little telephone did not survive the procedure.” 

Gadget pretended to ignore what he said. He wouldn't think of what might have happened to him on that table, not until he was out of here and safe enough to take time out to think. He had enough on his plate as it was, with Claw now backing him into a wall. Gadget was able to keep himself just far enough away from Claw until his back hit the wall. Willing to take the risk of another shock, Gadget called out, “Go-Go Gadget handcuff-” and was shocked violently for his trouble. 

The attack lasted nearly a minute, and its force drove Gadget to his knees, hands driving through his hair, knocking his hat off, as the pain seemed to originate from inside his head. His mouth hung open in a silent scream, so that he had dribble down his chin when it was over. 

“You see, Gadget,” Claw said. “You have been using your...gifts for the entirely wrong purpose. I will show you your true potential. I don't want you using them until you've learned how to do so properly.” 

“What did you do?” Gadget rasped from the floor. 

Claw crouched so he could be eye level with his captive, and drove his steely fingers through the thick black mass of Gadget's hair, now damp and flat with his sweat. Gadget remained still as a statue, and just as mute. Claw didn't answer right away. He took his time scraping his metallic fingertips across Gadget's scalp, and then gripped the man by the base of his shoulder. At last he replied, “I have started something wonderful.”


	2. Chapter 2

Gadget clung to Claw's jacket sleeve as he was brought out of that room and down a hallway. He said nothing, and tuned out whatever Claw might have said. Instead he focused on his surroundings. The hallway was narrow, and the longest Gadget had ever seen. Paintings adorned the walls, but when he tried to study any of them, Claw would urge them forward, shaking Gadget's attention back to front. He noticed, from a few tall, arched windows, that it was now night. 

He thought of Penny, home alone, not knowing where he could be, and shoved his elbow into Claw's side. Claw just laughed, and wrapped his arm tighter around Gadget's shoulders, hugging him tightly against himself while forcing him to walk. The inspector stared ahead, jaw clenched in impotent fury. He told himself he'd have a better chance tomorrow morning, once he got to sleep and recuperate. Though the aching was finally gone, he felt weak and drained from the shocks. Once he was strong enough, he believed, he would free himself. He was certain of it. And he'd bring Dr. Claw in as a prisoner to boot. Just a little rest, he thought, was all he needed. He almost smiled to himself, but was too tired. 

Claw brought him to a spacious, luxurious bathroom, with dark marble along the sinks, and a flood of bright lights overhead. Closing the door behind them, Claw guided Gadget closer to the bathtub and turned him around so they faced each other. Claw gazed at his prize, gripping him by the arm with one hand, while the other stroked the side of Gadget's face. Gadget stared coldly back at him, emboldened by his decision to escape the next day. In fact, he was almost glad to be here, to have this chance to finally arrest this criminal who had plagued his city for years. He imagined himself being hailed as a hero at the station, his colleagues so impressed by his bravery. 

Seeing the faint grin on Gadget's face, Claw smiled too. His smile bared teeth as he began unbuttoning Gadget's coat. When Gadget grabbed his hand to stop him, Claw slapped it away and kept going. Soon he had Gadget's trench coat opened, and he slid it down his shoulders. “I wouldn't want this getting wet,” he said, forcing it off. It fell with a sharp sound on the marble floor.

Then Claw went for Gadget's tie. Gadget grabbed the metallic prosthesis with both hands. “Take your hands off me,” he said with as much menace as he could pack into his voice. 

Amused, Claw just grinned. Undeterred by Gadget, he ripped the man's shirt open, sending buttons flying everywhere. “You need a bath,” he said, and held Gadget by the wrist. “You smell.”

Stiff with anger, Gadget waited till Claw's hands were at his belt to ram his shoulder into him. It was enough to knock Claw back, and gave Gadget the chance to dart away. “Stay back!” he spat. “I don't want to hurt you.” 

As Claw laughed, someone else crept into the bathroom. This little visitor scurried over the marble floor and weaved between Gadget's legs as he tried to back up. She leaped to safety just as Gadget tripped and fell. 

“You see how difficult you're making this for yourself?” Claw asked, looming over him.

Gadget panted softly and looked up at him. “Help me up,” he pleaded quietly. He lifted a hand and gave Claw an entreating gaze. 

With a mirthful grin, Claw went down on his knees to take hold of Gadget's arm. As soon as he did so, Gadget clamped his other hand on Claw's upper arm and pulled as hard as he could, throwing his captor to the floor. But instead of freeing himself, Gadget only trapped himself further; now Claw was completely on top of him, pinning his wrists down with his unyielding hands. He laughed as Gadget thrashed and struggled beneath him. Claw was out of breath himself; Gadget was giving him a good fight. “Tried to trick me, did you, Gadget?” he cackled. “What a delightful surprise! There's hope for you, yet.”

Desperate, Gadget tried extending an arm, but within seconds the pain was excruciating, feeling more like he was shredding the inside of his arm with every agonizing movement of the metal parts. Claw was sitting comfortably on Gadget's hips and took hold of the arm he was trying to extend. Gadget clenched his hand but was otherwise still, watching him. 

“You have me now, Gadget!” Claw said with a laugh. He lowered his face closer to Gadget's and snarled, “Now what are you going to do with me?”

“Go-go Gadget arrrgghh...ahhhh!!!!” Gadget strained, every word agony until he just couldn't push through it anymore. It felt like countless gears grinding against each other inside his arm, and he could barely see the smirking face above him.

“That looks painful,” Claw teased as his nemesis tortured himself. Gadget's face was red, sweaty, and he had tears streaming from his eyes. He writhed and quivered, and yet at the same time barely moved at all, just stuck there in impotent struggle until finally he relaxed with a miserable exhale. Claw stroked the backs of his metallic fingers up and down Gadget's cheek and said, “I can fix that. But you need a bath first.” 

Gadget's chest heaved. He stared at Claw with a death glare, and tensed as Claw slipped an arm beneath his back and started to move him. Gadget realized how battered his body was as soon as Claw had him on his feet; he practically fell against Claw's body, and was held tightly before he could muster the strength to push away. 

Claw brought him over to the bath, easily overcoming whatever resistance Gadget could attempt, and sat him down on the thick, black lip of the tub. Gadget leaned against the wall at his side as Claw got down on his knees to slip his shoes off. Claw glanced up at him. “Don't worry about undressing yourself, Gadget. I'll take care of that.” Still on his knees, he came close to Gadget's upper body and pulled off his tie. He tossed it over his shoulder, meeting eyes with Gadget. 

Gadget was still as Claw slowly pushed his ruined shirt down his shoulders, studying the man in front of him. He was like a lifeless doll, not helping or hindering as Claw removed shirt, undershirt, and gloves, the cold sting of Claw's metallic touches too remote right now for him to even care about. He could not guess what was wrong with his parts. He was sure Claw had something to do with it, but he'd have to find out what exactly he'd done. And what could be done to overcome it. His stomach was turning and his head light with a carefully controlled inner freak out, but Gadget still refused to give up the hope that by this time tomorrow, he'd have this psychopath in cuffs.

His passivity ended when one of those cold, metal hands tried undoing his belt. With an incoherent, clipped snarl he shoved Claw's hands away and gave him a look that, to Claw at least, seemed to dare another attempt. And another attempt came, this time with Claw laughing in a low, gravelly voice, and Gadget fighting against him with a tenacity that actually impressed the old criminal. Gadget was worn out and breathing hard, but managed to win that small battle; Claw stood up and gazed down at Gadget with a half smile. “Very well,” he indulged. “You shall have your privacy for one more night. You have a lot to get used to, after all!” He shook his head in such a state of self-satisfaction, it was all Gadget could do to keep still and quiet. The determined, fiery look in his eye faded not one iota as his arch nemesis laughed with joy—for lack of better term.

Dr. Claw laid out some towels for Gadget as he turned to leave, as MAD Cat watched with half-lidded eyes. To Gadget he warned in a cheery tone, “For your sake I suggest you actually get in that tub.” And to the cat, he said, with a comical wagging of a metal finger, “Now you watch him and make sure he doesn't drown!” Chuckling, he walked out, leaving the door ajar.

The moment he heard Claw's footsteps fade into silence, Gadget bolted into action. He rushed shut the door, and then scanned his surroundings frantically. It didn't take more than a minute for him to accidentally trigger a blinding headache when he tried to use one of his visual sensor implants. He hadn't even consciously decided to activate that particular implant, but force of habit and impending need made him resort to it without thinking. And now he was bent over the sink, knees buckling, the room spinning. 

As the pain passed, he became vaguely aware of a strange, raspy laughing behind him; he stared at the cat in confusion, at first. Then his eyes narrowed and fixed upon the creature with enough ferocity to startle the cat into silence. “A sentinel,” Gadget said, quiet but with forceful conviction. “So that's your game, is it, Claw?” he growled at MAD Cat, who did not at all appreciate this turn of events. She growled back and leaped onto the edge of the bathtub as Gadget approached. Maybe she'd been chowing down on too many treats lately, because she couldn't quite dodge the inspector's grabbing hands. “Well, good try, but you've just given me an advantage over you!” While MAD Cat squalled and fought and hissed, Gadget searched for a way to access what he believed to be her mechanical insides, his fingers rough and indelicate as they prodded and pulled and poked. “Come on...there must be a camera feed in here...” Apparently he went too far in his search; in a flash MAD Cat went ballistic. With the strength of ten hench-cats she fought the invasive human off, covering him in scratches. Clutching onto her despite all this, Gadget lost his balance and fell into the bath, taking the cat with him. He was deafened by churning water, feline screeches, and his own desperate gasps when he was able to breathe air. 

He yelled after her as she ran frantically out of the bathroom, and was about to pursue when someone entered. “Woah, what the hell's going on in here?” the figure said, gazing down the hall after the cat. When he turned to look at Gadget, the young man couldn't resist a cold, creeping grin, completely devoid of anything resembling friendliness. “Starting out fighting, huh? Yeah, good for you. We'll see how far that takes you.” The youth's tall, slender frame sauntered closer, and his crossed his arms, head cocked, to regard the prisoner. “Pretty anti-climactic, I gotta say.”

Gadget had been catching his breath while the young man was speaking, and really didn't hear any of it. If he did it didn't register. “That cat!” he panted, leaning over the tub lip. He stopped himself from trying to extend his neck, but a split second too late. The terrible grinding overtook him, though he fought through the pain with gritted teeth. “It's a robotic sentry!” he forced out. “You've got to catch it, you've got--”

Talon gazed at the inspector with half-lidded eyes filled with utter lack of concern. If anything, a faint amusement flickered in those cold, baleful irises. “You always bathe with your pants on?” he mocked. Leaning against the sink counter, one long thin leg crossing over the other. 

Gadget gaped a moment at him, considering then rejecting the idea to try to convince him again of the robotic threat. Although Gadget had looked into those eyes countless times over the years, had heard that voice in multiple contexts, he had no idea who this young man was. He had a feeling about him, incorrect perhaps, but it urged him to be careful anyway. “Do you always walk in on someone taking a bath?” he countered, though in a gentle tone. 

Talon snorted derisively. “It sounded like the apocalypse in here. I'm just glad I got here before you drowned the damn cat!” He grinned cruelly and shook his head. “Man, you're lucky Uncle Claw didn't see that.”

Uncle. Gadget asked himself what that could mean for him. If this boy was even telling the truth about that. Of course, that's just what a human-sized robot would call its creator...

“Hey, quit staring at me like that!” Talon snapped. “You've got your orders, now follow them just like everyone else around here!” He came closer, fully taking advantage of the height his body had grown into these past years, his voice finding a gruff and stern register that was impossible when he'd first laid eyes upon the man now soaked and exhausted in front of him. Manhood had reached Talon only recently, but as far as Talon was concerned his teenage years no longer existed to him; they disgusted him. Unlike the numerous times in the past when he'd spoken to Gadget, this time the older man paid attention and did not have some patronizing comment to impart. “Get finished,” Talon said through gritted teeth. “I'm gonna be just outside. Don't make me wait long.” With a lingering sneer he left. 

Gadget didn't know what to think first. There was that cat sentry running amok, sections of the bathroom he hadn't yet inspected for any devices he could use to communicate with the outside world, and now this strange, angry young man claiming to be Claw's relation. But did that mean he was loyal to him, he couldn't stop wondering. Somehow he managed to focus—halfway at least—on locating some soap and giving himself the most perfunctory, half-hearted wash of his life. 

But as he wet his hair, he realized something. With frantic energy he examined his arm, fingering the almost imperceptibly thin lines at his wrist, elbow, and shoulder, where flesh separated to allow the extension of the metal inside. He was able to resist allowing the limb extenders from reacting to his thoughts of them, though it took strained effort. He just wanted to see if he could perhaps detect what had been done to him with a cursory examination. Fingertips touched cold metal behind the skin, but he could not tell much just from this. His electronic components were sealed in a flexible wrap, much like the fascia layer swaddling muscle and sinew, and kept them safe even when he was immersed in water. The fact that this protective layer was still intact proved...well he wasn't sure what that proved yet. But it was a good thing nevertheless. 

“Gadget!” snarled a hauntingly familiar, but youthful voice, snapping him back to reality. Giving himself a lightning fast rub down with the soap, he was done and out of the tub in a flash. Though he did have to peel his trousers off when he got out. 

He was just wrapping a towel around his body when Talon burst in. “Alright, come on!” Talon yanked Gadget by the elbow and lead him down the hall, past the mysterious portraits and a few henchmen. He felt watched by all mentioned and could not suppress a shudder. “Yeah, bet you're cold,” Talon sneered, giving him a quick glance. He brought him into a room where a sort of uniform was laid out. Black, purple piping, the all too familiar MAD logo on its breast, sleek dark boots below. “Get dressed,” Talon ordered. At Gadget's hesitance, he snarled, “Or do you need help with that, too?”

“Of course not,” Gadget replied scornfully. “Would you turn around?”

Talon scoffed and rolled his eyes but he did as Gadget asked. “You try anything and I won't even tell my uncle,” he said, arms crossed. “I'll kick your ass myself.”

Gadget held the towel around himself till the very last minute regardless. He couldn't stop thinking of what those in his life would think to see him in such a get-up, but he forced himself to ignore that long enough to just get it on. He might have resisted if there were anything else around to wear. He felt ridiculous once it was on, and not just for the logo. He couldn't help plucking at the skin tight fabric every five seconds as he followed Talon back out into the hall and down the massive, winding stair case. He must have twisted his back trying to see the entire effect several times, at once baffled and horrified to see himself in such a thing. It felt disloyal to admit, however, that it was damn comfortable. Certainly felt freer and lighter than the old trench coat. 

They stopped just before the huge dining room—at least Talon stopped and Gadget, still gaping at his outfit, ran into him. Talon cursed under his breath and grabbed Gadget's arm to keep him still. Regardless of his irritation, he just wanted to take a good look at the man his uncle had drained so much time and resources to hunt down, and perhaps see him the way his uncle must. He only saw a tired, harmless, confused pawn, already fading into the background of the place like everyone else who served Claw. He could virtually see the cop think of an ability to use, remind himself the consequences, and then droop almost imperceptibly as he gave up the idea. He almost felt sorry for him. That sensation passed like a scratched itch.

A rough slap on the shoulder and a raspy chuckle and Talon left Gadget alone in the hall, with the elder Claw waiting just on the other side of the door. Gadget took the risk to gaze after the young man, wondering once again what his true desires and ambitions might be. The real question came to him as he pushed open the ominous, heavy door: with Claw in charge, did it even matter?


	3. Chapter 3

This room could only be properly described as a great hall. Tapestries, coats of armor, even a great and roaring fire filled the expansive space, though none of these things demanded Gadget's attention quite as much as the man standing by the bench-like table before him. Like a corrupted halo, a huge MAD emblem hung on the wall just behind and above his head. 

“Fetching,” Claw remarked with a little grin as he held a hand out for him. Gadget stayed where he was, by the door. The remark had fallen flat; the inspector did not concern himself with self-consciousness or much notice Claw's up and down looks. He could only afford a cold glance to Claw before looking around the room, observing, remembering. He was sure he'd be back here later that night—attempting his escape. He was certain there must be concealed passageways in this old place, maybe switches and/or doors hidden in plain sight. 

“You must be famished,” again rasped the older man, and it was only then that Gadget noticed the food on the table. The smell of it reminded his stomach of its emptiness, but he was in no mood for dinner. 

He felt, rather than saw, Claw approach him, and he instinctively drew away, and bumped into a suit of armor with an obnoxious clattering, nearly toppling it. “I'll thank you for your hospitality, Dr. Claw,” Gadget announced sternly as kept himself just out of reach of Claw's metallic hands. “But you must know I have to decline--”

“My dear Inspector, I'm only concerned for your health. Please, eat something before you faint away.”

“My health...” Gadget sputtered, color rising to his cheeks. “Now see here, Claw, I've had just about enough of this...this...foolishness...” The evil genius was remarkably quick on his feet, making it a game as he placed himself in Gadget's way whenever he moved, inches from contact. Gadget found a relatively safe haven behind a forbidding, high backed chair. He gripped it tightly. “I'd...I'd be willing to speak to the D.A. about ensuring a...a...” Here Claw's metal arm knocked the chair away with startling ease, and Gadget felt his hard, merciless grip on his arm, as friendly as a vice, while the other hand supported his back. He gulped and continued, “...if you come along with me right now, peaceably, why I could make sure you get a light sentence.”

“A light sentence, indeed?” Claw laughed huskily as Gadget tried not to squirm in his grip. “I don't know whether to be flattered or insulted, Gadget. Surely I deserve to rot in prison for a thousand years for my crimes!” He flashed a challenging grin. 

“The judge can be very...” Gadget clenched his jaw, narrowed his eyes, but resisted moving his face away from Claw's stroking, cold fingers. He didn't want to give him that satisfaction, though he shuddered involuntarily. “...lenient on crime bosses who turn themselves in. It...it shows a change of heart...and remorse...the desire to...to...”

“Yes?” Claw crooned, stroking thickly through Gadget's hair. He was able to feel, in a way, the texture of it with his metal hands, but he could not really feel it. Not the way flesh could feel. “Tell me what I desire.” 

At first Gadget could not answer. He'd gradually relaxed in Claw's grasp once he realized his struggling would not get him far right now. And the last thing he wanted was to allow one of his gadgets to try to come out; the idea of Claw laughing at his pain was enough to keep him strong in that respect. Also while he'd expected Claw's hand to be terribly hard and painful, somehow the MAD boss knew just what pressure to apply to be soothing. 

If Gadget noticed Claw's innuendo he didn't show it; when he spoke again it was with stronger conviction and calmness. “Rehabilitation, that's what. You can show that you're willing to give up your life of crime to make amends to society. I can speak for the entire city that we'd all be grateful for that.”

“I'm afraid it's too late for me to return to society,” Claw said, half amused, half rueful. He swept his hand from Gadget's hair to display it before him, turning it slowly as the firelight danced off the curves and points of the spikes. 

Gadget's expression softened. “Oh, Dr. Claw,” he said with genuine feeling. “You don't need to be ashamed about that! No one would judge you for having prosthetics! Well, I'd go for something a little cheerier than the spikes, myself...”

Claw interrupted him with a laugh, and then guided him to the table with his arm around his shoulders. Before Gadget knew it he was forcibly shoved into a chair, Claw's hand trailing down his shoulder as he took his own seat opposite him, steaming plates of food before them. “You will see in time how meaningless your convictions are, Gadget. How empty it all is.”

Gadget frowned. “...what is?”

“Your life,” Claw replied with a nonchalant shrug. He cut into his meat with a fearsome looking knife, nearly the size of his arm. “Pointlessly serving a broken system, giving every last shred of yourself to those who'd gladly sacrifice you over and over if only they could.” A large chunk of dripping flesh disappeared into his mouth; he enjoyed it for a swift but passionate moment and then locked eyes again with his prisoner. “The only real crime that's been committed here is how diabolically you've been used.” He took another bite and said with his mouth half full, with a clipped laugh, “And you thank them for it!”

The smell of the food only made Gadget's stomach turn. He pushed the plate away and gave Claw an intent look. “Who?” he demanded. “What are you talking about?”

“Tell me, Gadget,” Claw said. “Did you ask to be...shall we say, recreated as you are? Were you, perhaps, consulted before all that hardware was crammed into your body?” 

Gadget's frown deepened. He sat back and let his hands fall into his lap as he looked away in confusion. “Why would I need to be?” he asked, looking back at him. “If anything I'm grateful for my gadgets. I can't even imagine the price-tag on it all, but they were all gifts from the Department.”

Claw snorted. “You're worth more than every last car and gun and lackey in your little Department in spare parts alone. The money is not the issue, my dear, you are missing the point. I can't think of a more invasive procedure than what you were put through. I ask again, did you request any of it? Were you even told beforehand?”

“I'm sure if I were conscious, the chief would have asked me,” Gadget retorted with growing irritation. He didn't like the suspicion he felt at where this conversation was going; he didn't like the smug grin that never seemed to leave Claw's face. “I was given more than ample operating training when I came to, though. And I know I'll always have all the tech support I could ever need, even if I did leave the force.” 

“You nearly died that day, isn't that right?” Claw asked in mock-sweetness. “A silly little slip and fall. A very common death. But you're anything but a common man, aren't you, Gadget?”

“Dr. Claw, I don't understand the point of this conversation and I'll thank you to get to the point,” said Gadget, heatedly. 

“My point, Inspector, is this: you are a walking experiment. Your precious Department took advantage of your weakened, vulnerable state to test out something they've been anxious to use for years.”

“I hardly see it that way,” Gadget retorted. “My injuries were so severe, it was touch and go for a while there. I...I don't really remember much of that day but I do remember that. I thought I was about to die, everyone did. Chief Quimby and the doctors saved my life. What, do you expect me to believe someone pushed me down those stairs, just so I could need the surgery?” He scoffed. 

“They might as well have, with how quickly they took advantage of your inability to consent.”

Gadget shook his head in baffled annoyance. “What does it matter? These implants not only saved my life but made it a thousand times better. And to think of what I'm now able to do for the city, why I'd pay any price for what I've been given for free.”

“That grime soaked den of corruption couldn't care less for 'the city,'” Claw sneered with a sudden shift in mood. Gadget jolted when a heavy fist slammed the table. “All police are corrupt, in one way or another, just another form of criminal in matching suits. To think of you and your talents wasted, twisted in such a callous, common way makes me want to retch! You are nothing but a tool, you poor deluded man. You don't notice it because you believe your morals align with theirs.” 

Gadget crossed his arms and glared at Claw. “And what would you know about morals, Dr. Claw?”

“Only that I once believed in them, as you do,” Claw said, almost wistful. “I've learned a lot of truths since then.” He pushed his plate away and rose from his chair, taking his time to walk around the table to approach the inspector. Gadget watched from the corner of his eye, not willing to turn his face to him, as Claw loomed over him. “You don't even realize yet how much of what you believe are nothing more than lies to control you. How used, how dispensable you really are to your supposed saviors.” 

Gadget slipped out of his chair from the side farthest from Claw. “You're a sick man, Claw. Probably you've a very tragic history behind you, to corrupt your heart and mind so much. I am sorry about whatever must have happened to you, but I will never see things the way you do. You might as well give up now and come down to the station with me.”

Claw chuckled. “Soon enough I'll share that 'tragic history' with you. I cannot wait to see how the truth will shock and shatter you, but we must not spoil things by rushing. You are not yet receptive enough to properly listen. You're still too blinded by your dogma. Suffice to say for now we share more in common than you think.”

“Even if...” Gadget began, pausing as Claw pushed the chair out of the way and crept closer to him. Within moments he was trapped between Claw's imposing body and the table behind him. “Even...even if that were true, do you really expect to win me over like this? By holding me against my will?”

“Yes, I'm afraid I must force you at first,” Claw said, slipping an arm around Gadget's back to yank him closer. “But there is no other way; your mind and your heart belongs too fully to the enemy. But you will see in time that all I do, I do for your own good. And if you're grateful to the Metro City Police Department for slicing and twisting your body according to their will, just imagine what you'll feel for me once I'm done. I'm sorry that you must suffer a little now for what you will receive later.”

A thousand protests remained captive behind Gadget's lips as he felt himself crushed against the older man's body, flesh and metal equally oppressive and inflexible against his own weakened form. “Consider my original offer rescinded,” he finally managed to say through gritted teeth. “When I get out of here, I'll make sure you're prosecuted to the fullest extent...” He tried but failed to twist out of Claw's grasp as the man brought his face closer. He could only mumble the rest of what he set out to say as the other's lips brushed, barely touching, along his cheek, down his jaw. He gripped Claw with a jolt when he felt intoxicating warmth and pressure at the hollow of his neck. Pleasure for a small moment, then intense pain as one of his gadgets tried to emerge in reaction to his growing distress. Though he would have rather fallen to the floor, he clutched at Claw's shoulders, face crammed against his chest as he rode out the attack, focusing everything he had on suppressing the implants from activating, an especially difficult task considering he'd never even thought to try to suppress his gadgets before. 

“Why...why is this happening...?” he strained when he could catch his breath. 

Claw lifted Gadget's face by the chin and enjoyed the miserable look in his red-rimmed eyes. “This will pass soon, my dear Inspector. Think of this as training. You have some very exclusive, very expensive software added to your system that will cause this...feedback whenever you use any gadgets without my permission. How long you are to remain like this, however, is up to you.”

“Exactly,” Gadget snarled abruptly. “It ends the moment I escape.”

“If you do, I'll still have control over your entire system, and I'll make you suffer every second without end,” Claw crooned, massaging Gadget's scalp softly. “Do as I ask, however, and you'll never want for anything again. You will have a new purpose, one far greater than this pretty little lie you've been living!”

“What about my family?” 

“They'll never have to work another day in their lives, of course.” 

Gadget glared coldly. “What I meant was how do you expect me to face them if I go along with you? What kind of example would I be setting?”

Claw shrugged, his eyes taking in the details of the man's hair, his face, his eyes. All he'd gazed and glared and shouted at for so many years through a video monitor, now here in the flesh. In his arms. “You'd be showing them what it means to truly be free, no longer a pawn of this 'society' you sacrifice so much for, and it will only be a matter of time before they learn from your example. At least, I hope, for their sakes, that happens.” 

Tears sprung anew from Gadget's eyes at this, and he thrashed in Claw's arms till he broke free, furious defiance giving him strength that even in pain he could still access. Gadget raced towards the fire and fell to his knees, clawing at his hair, eyes squeezed shut but still unable to shake off the image of Dr. Claw's smug grin. “I'll die before that happens, Claw!” he screamed into the flames. “Whatever you're trying to do, you've already failed! Do you hear me?”

“You're tired,” Claw said calmly. “You've been through so much today, let us retire for the night. Come.” He came over to Gadget and held out his hand. 

“I'm fine right here,” Gadget growled. “Just go.”

“And leave you to explore the lair all alone?” Claw snorted. “Search for weaknesses, a way to call for help, perhaps?” He crouched and seized a metallic handful of the back of Gadget's new jumpsuit, lifting him with ease. Gadget struggled half-heartedly but mostly just stumbled against him. He couldn't remember feeling so low in his life, not even the day he awoke in the hospital. “Come,” Claw intoned as he walked him out of the room. “You'll feel better in the morning, you'll see.”

Gadget hated to do so, but he leaned against Claw as they passed through the halls, actually looking forward to the chance to sleep, if only an hour or so. The sight of MAD Cat sauntering by gave him a momentary jolt, and both creatures stared at each other hard till Claw took them around a corner. He felt like innumerable eyes stared at him from the very walls, all mocking. 

Gadget found strength in sending Penny a silent but vehement promise that he would see her again. Weaker, damaged, even dying, it didn't matter. But he would see her again. Claw would not take that away from him, he vowed. 

So focused on this, he neglected to take note of the corners they took, the doors and objects they passed. He chastised himself; if he planned to sneak back out later he was already lost. Even with sleep tugging at his eyes, ravishing his spent limbs, he tried anyway to study what surroundings he could.

Claw led him into a dark room, hand at the small of his back, urging him onward till his knees hit the soft blankets of a bed. With unnerving ease, Claw lifted and placed the tired inspector into it, indulging in an absurdly tender tucking-in. Whatever opportunity Gadget may have had with Claw leaving him alone was wasted as he succumbed to his exhaustion. Claw smiled at his snores and left the room softly.

Talon was waiting in the hall just outside, glaring as his uncle turned a key in the lock. The glare remained when uncle and nephew met eyes, though with considerably less energy than before. “You may go to bed now,” Claw rasped, and with a dismissive gesture he headed down the hall.

But Talon followed, a simmering look in his eyes and a gloved fist clenched at his side. “I thought you wanted him dead!” he spat. As Claw turned and made a face, Talon rolled his eyes. “Gimme a break, he's not gonna hear us! Look I thought you wanted him out of the picture.”

For a moment their glares matched in intensity, but the older one dropped his first. With a gesture to follow, Claw resumed his stroll. They walked side by side in an uncomfortable silence, broken by a soft admission: “I did.” Claw's voice was so uncharacteristically soft, Talon threw him a glance. “And that's still a possibility, if this new plan does not prove...fruitful,” Claw continued. Talon studied his profile, found himself matching Claw's stride. 

“Do you actually think he's going to turn to your side?” Talon asked with an effort to soften his own voice in kind. He still had his own opinions about this plan, what little he knew of it, but he'd never seen his uncle so...he didn't want to say vulnerable, but that would have to do. There was something else besides the future of MAD at stake, it seemed. Or that could have just been the lighting. “It's gonna take more than threats with that goody-goody.”

Claw gave him a side-long look, almost a smile. “It will be difficult in the beginning, as things usually are,” he said. “There will be an...adjustment period, of course. But in the end it will not be I who pushes him over the brink, but his own self.” 

Talon had only just returned that morning from an extended training course ordered by his uncle. Ostensibly it was to help improve the boy's hand-to-hand combat and survival skills. That much Talon had learned and more, but he now he was starting to suspect his uncle had other reasons for sending him away for so long. Was it to plan and execute this latest scheme, he wondered. Without his help...?

Claw's voice broke through his reverie. “Take enough away from a man and he will take whatever you give him. Break him down to nothing so you may build him back up. So think, Talon, what does Gadget have?”

Talon, already beginning to worry himself in a state with his thoughts, could only stare blankly at his uncle at this question. 

“Besides the obvious,” Claw amended impatiently.

Talon's mind searched. “He has a family,” he blurted, then glanced up at Claw to check his expression. The creeping smile on the older man's face did much to alleviate Talon's anxiety. “And...” Claw looked expectant, eager even. Talon thought quickly, started to understand. “And friends. Colleagues. He's got support.” 

“Yes!” Claw exclaimed, fire in his eyes. “What else?”

In all those months sparring with the monks and enduring their brutal lessons, Talon had not felt such a surge of greedy, desperate excitement as he did now, sharing this intellectual exercise with his uncle. His sullen, dour expression had completely vanished. But he fumbled with the answer. “Um...ok...there's the gadgets, but that's obvious...friends...we said that...uh...” 

“Perhaps you came back too soon,” Claw said in a stale tone, and Talon's bitter countenance crept back into place. “However,” he continued, with such feeling in that one word, Talon looked up at him, waiting. 

Claw continued after a moment, “This might be a chance for you to learn something truly valuable. What makes a man loyal, beyond friends and family--” he clenched his teeth at these words-- “is something that cannot be so easily controlled, but it controls the man more than any other influence could.”

Talon had by now retreated back into a hard shell, physically shut off and uninviting as he waited for Claw to get to the point. If he could only peer into the mad inner workings of the older man's brain, he might enjoy this discussion, but right now it only made him feel excluded. Like some poor sap trying to eavesdrop on the neighbors. 

Claw seemed disappointed at the lack of a guess. “It's his ideals, you dull boy!” he exclaimed with such energy he startled his nephew. “What he believes in. You said so yourself you can't believe he'd join me.”

Talon sighed, “So what changed?”

Claw stopped, his back against a heavy wooden door, and a comfortable gloating look on his face. “Future tense, nephew, not past,” he said with a barely suppressed chuckle. 

“What?” Talon all but spat.

Claw just patted his head in answer, an entirely awkward and unnatural affair for both, and entered his logistical/communications ready room, with Talon trailing behind, gazing at all the changes. Most notably the size of the room itself seemed cavernous with so many monitors and other bulky equipment missing. The space was also much darker than he remembered. 

His uncle seemed to forget him as he got comfortable in front of a monitor. Talon watched the slow rise and fall of the sleeping figure's chest on the screen for a while before staring into the back of Claw's head, thinking. Wondering. Worrying. 

“That'll be all, Talon,” Claw's indifferent voice pulled him back to the present moment and its troubles. 

“Uh...you sure you don't need any help, Uncle Claw?” Talon volunteered, coming closer to peer over Claw's shoulder. Once again he wished he could read his relation's mind, to see what Claw saw when he watched Gadget. Because all Talon could see was a ticking time bomb. Knowing Gadget, that might literally be true. He spoke in quick, excited tones to mask his anxiety. “'Cuz I sure don't need any sleep right now, I slept the whole flight over--”

“Talon!” a shout and a smash of an unyielding fist. Talon drew away and locked eyes with his uncle's. For a moment, a very fleeting one, he didn't recognize the man before him. “Go to bed,” Claw ordered in a barely controlled snarl. “Sleep or not, I don't care. Either way at 5, you are to bring Gadget to the training room. Understand?”

Talon's brows twitched but he bit down whatever he was about to retort. He managed to sigh a casual, “Yeah,” while still feeling tense. He immediately felt lighter when Claw turned his back on him to go back to creepily staring at his little screen. He slipped out of Claw's room and out of his mind and decided to try to sleep after all.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penny and the Chief realize Gadget is missing. Short chapter.

Penny was tired of being brave. According to literally everyone, that's what she was. So brave. So strong. Well what did it matter, she couldn't stop thinking, with her uncle lost out there somewhere, he could be unconscious, he could be hurt. He could be...

She jolted in her plastic molded seat when someone touched her shoulder and then immediately softened. “Oh, Brain,” she whispered, pulling him in for a tight hug, as Brain whined softly and nestled in her arms. Soon after they both jerked their heads up, as Chief Quimby stormed into the stale little office. The door was open enough for Penny to hear all the phone calls, talking, general activity buzzing away, seemingly oblivious to her isolated, but still very stressful problem. 

Just seeing the chief made both the young woman and the faithful old dog relax, even smile a little bit. Quimby had not wasted a moment when Penny had called him earlier that evening. Maybe with anyone else, a day or two should normally pass before assuming someone is missing. But it was simply unlike her uncle not to call or show up or leave some kind of message for Penny, even if a mission did suddenly come up. She could stand her uncle rushing out at odd hours day and night for the job, because he did well to temper his chaotic schedule with regular communication. A phone call, or pressing a tiny button to send a signal to Penny's codex if he couldn't call. For three hours now there had been nothing. Whenever she tried to ping Gadget's transponder, she got worse than no answer: she wasn't even getting any passive signals back, as if the transponder itself were deactivated. 

“I've just come back from Professor VonSlickstein,” the chief said, his voice gruff like usual, but with a note of alarm Penny couldn't unhear. She and Brain got up to look at the blueprints the chief slammed on the table. “He thinks there must be some kind of field, a sort of cloaking device if you will, hiding the energy signatures from Gadget's system from our scans.” He threw a stern look to Penny, who was poring over the schematics and added, “But rest assured, Penny, he'll spend all night trying to get through.” She didn't look too assured. 

In fact nothing that the chief or anyone else said could lift the cloud obscuring Penny's mind. This...this was her fault. She didn't dare voice this thought because she knew it'd be shot down. She didn't feel worthy of the reassurances she knew the chief would give. Yes, she deserved a life of her own; after all these years playing guardian angel to her uncle, she had earned a shot at achieving her own dreams. How selfish and beastly she felt for having those dreams, with her uncle missing. She didn't want to be told it wasn't her fault; if nothing else, such words would not bring her uncle back. 

All through middle and high school Penny had worked hard on the sidelines, sometimes alone, sometimes in cooperation with Quimby and others. Now a college student, she still lived with her uncle and helped him—but not as often as before. Slowly she was weaning herself off from being his safety net while she got a chance to catch up with her own life. She was taking criminal justice classes at the Metro City community college. Becoming a detective like her uncle was not off the table, but she wanted to be free to explore other options, like law school or forensics. 

She just couldn't believe how off the rails this day had gone. How much had happened since waking up that morning. How huge and important her midterms had seemed that day, and how excited she'd been to attend her friend Kaylee's celebratory party. How deserving of fun she had felt in that moment. 

But now she felt unforgivably selfish, because her uncle had gone missing while she was at the party. She had left home shortly after Gadget went to the Botanical Gardens on a tip; the two of them agreed that he'd report back to her by 7pm. All he had to do was send a signal via his Gadget phone and Penny would receive it on her Codex. 7pm, 7:30, 8pm...still no signal. By 8:30 she was on the horn with the chief, who knew Gadget well enough to know something was very wrong. 

After asking Kaylee to pretend nothing was wrong—but to be available to receive messages—Penny left her house and went straight to the station, where she met the chief. In grim, anxious silence, the pair, along with two sympathetic cops for support, went to check out the Botanical Gardens, having to gain special permission to explore the grounds after closing time. 

Penny kept her emotions bottled up inside her as she and the others roamed the grounds for clues. How many times did she have to blink back tears as the frustration clawed at her insides, as desperation burned her throat? Countless. How many times did she bite back a bitter curse directed at herself for refusing to follow her uncle to this place and keep an eye on him...too many times to even imagine. Hours later, when the chief decided they could do no more there that night, he found Penny crouching by a tree, crying. As he told her the words he felt she should hear but he didn't believe, one of the other cops came running to them, holding something up in her hand excitedly 

“I found this by the maintenance room, Chief,” she said as she placed a tiny bit of metal into Quimby's hand. 

Penny snatched it and immediately scanned it through her Codex. It was Gadget's tie clip, and under the Codex scans it vibrated with the same frequency as the rest of Gadget's system, a special number Penny knew by heart by now. Wet streaks on her cheeks betrayed the tracks of tears that no one dared to comment upon as she shared her findings with the others. This was a lead, for sure, but it didn't tell them much, only that Gadget had been here last before he was...abducted? Wandered off? They still could not tell for sure, though Penny feared the worst. 

“Let's get this back to the lab,” said Quimby, forcing an extra strength to his voice for Penny's benefit. Penny only agreed to go with them for the chance to see if the Professor might find something. She basically spent the night down at the station, waiting for Prof. VonSlickstein to come up with something, anything, from that tie clip, while she fought with her Codex. The only sleep she found was when she passed out from sheer exhaustion. Brain's sleep was light and easily startled as he dozed her lap. Quimby stayed up the entire night, just as busy keeping an eye on Penny as he was in his work to find her uncle. Not for the first time, he was grateful to Brain's loyalty to her. Penny was going to need it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Claw begins training Gadget

Ch. 5

 

Gadget felt like only a second had passed from when he first lay his head on the pillow to the present moment, with someone shaking him awake by the shoulders. He grunted and griped with desperately sleepy complaints that only irritated his visitor. At least during these first few seconds he was blissfully forgetful of the previous day, and Talon's face was once again strange to him as he sat up in bed. Memories soon flooded back in and took the softness from his eyes and the sleep from his bones. He shot out of that bed with such ferocity the younger man stumbled backwards and rammed into an ancient oaken dresser.

It was easier this time for Gadget to repress any implants from emerging....almost too easy, he thought madly as he locked eyes with the younger Claw. He realized he could feel his entire system vibrating within his body, as usual. The day he woke up from the surgery, so long ago, he remembered feeling like there was some other organism living inside him, that the gadgets themselves were somehow alive. The sensation had disturbed him for a long time until he finally learned to integrate himself fully with his electronic parts. Now the ever preset buzzing and vibrating told him that part of him was still alive, very much so. Though forced to hold themselves back, they would never go dormant. Though the inspector still had to focus to make sure nothing came out, he was terribly grateful to know they were still there....waiting.

His face was flushed and his chest heaved from his self-induced panic but he quickly calmed himself down as he realized how afraid Talon looked at that moment. Maybe it was because he looked to be around the same age as Penny, but Gadget did not want to be aggressive towards him.

Still very much perturbed but regaining his composure, Talon said through tight lips, “I'm taking you down to the training room now. Are we gonna have a problem getting there?” His glare was fiery, challenging, but his lower lip trembled.

“None from me," Gadget answered dryly, letting his glare linger. He then looked sharply away and sat back down on the bed to slip on his boots. Noticing Talon coming towards him as he stood up, Gadget stepped back and asked, "You'll let me freshen up a bit first, right?" His tone didn't invite a no for an answer.

Talon answered with a roll of the eyes and a gesture towards the bathroom, which Gadget entered without another word, locking the door behind him. This one was smaller than the one from last night, but just as luxurious, complete with an ostentatious lighting scheme that made the room seem darker, with its black and purple lights, than if the room actually allowed any sunlight in. He took his time using the facilities, though Talon banged on the door more than once. Like last night he searched the room for anything he might use to send out a signal or anything else useful at all. He'd have to wait until night to do a proper investigation, he mused as he washed up.

“Finally,” Talon snapped as Gadget emerged. He took his arm, close to the elbow, and in this fashion they stalked down the hallway in cautious silence. Gadget had found it strange that Talon would hold onto him like that, but he supposed that he'd been ordered to. To keep him in line, he mused. It wouldn't do to give the prisoner an opportunity to just run off. Soon enough, though, Gadget was the one setting the pace of their walk, and it seemed more and more that Talon was still holding his arm not to control the inspector, but to keep pace with him.

Now at this point Talon had two choices: pretend he didn't notice how his prisoner was taking the lead and not mention it at all, or nip this little show of rebellion in the bud. Maybe some of that grueling training had worked, because he felt no nervousness when he stopped still in his tracks and gave out a good, low snarl, “Hey! Slow those long-ass legs down, old man! You don't even know where where we're going.”

Gadget turned large, inquisitive eyes down on Talon, and seemed more surprised than offended. “You said the training room, right?” Gadget asked with an innocent note to his voice that Talon was convinced was a ploy. "Isn't it just up ahead?"

Talon's facial features contorted in preparation for a vicious reply, when he happened to glance down the hall...and at two very large doors opened to reveal an expansive space within. From where they were it was possible to see the smooth, gymnasium style floor and what appeared to be athletic equipment, such as a trapeze bar. "How did you...aahhhh!" Talon grumbled, tugging Gadget towards the room. Never mind, come on!"

The both of them slowed as they reached the threshold, the younger man's features set in hard stone, but his eyes, though focused, betrayed fear. The older man did not seem so much afraid as he was astonished, perhaps even impressed, at the sheer size of the room. From the hallway, the gym looked complete and modern, but once inside, Gadget could see how the smooth flooring ended abruptly some distance inside. It was like a room within a room; outside the clean edges of the floor, rough, natural rocks and dust and dirt served as flooring, stalagmites hanging from overhead instead of the lamps lighting up the gym section of the room. Gadget irritated Talon even further by trying to see into the darkness of the wild cavern at the back of the room. Did it lead outside or to certain doom, he wondered.

Dr. Claw had been watching the entire procession from his monitor, with steepled fingers and narrowed eyes, and half a laugh waiting at the corner of his mouth. He could afford to laugh now, he thought, with the most difficult part of the enterprise taken care of. Not that the training would be easy by any means, neither on Gadget nor on Claw, but at least while Gadget was safe within Claw's walls, the arch-villain could breathe a little easier. As long as it happened within his own realm, Dr. Claw could handle anything.

Talon's fingers sunk in deeper than perhaps they needed to when he pulled the inspector closer. He avoided his uncle's eyes as he awaited a command, already hating this. He could have cared less what ended up happening to the clueless detective; Talon just didn't appreciate having to be involved at all. Was this all he'd be doing now that he was back, he wondered bitterly. If Uncle Claw really thought he was going to keep him inside this dungeon day and night babysitting Gadget, he had another think...

Claw snapped his fingers in front of Talon's face, a terrible, grinding sound to behold. Talon's resentment towards Gadget turned to seething hatred just because he was there to see this latest little humiliation.

Claw's eyes grew and he shook his head with a hateful sort of bewilderment. "Well? Go!" he all but shoved his nephew out of his sight. Talon shot Gadget with a savage look he wished he were brave enough to show his uncle, and fled from the room.

Gadget watched Claw's face go from brooding and stormy, to something more relaxed, but no more pleasant, as their eyes met. He studied his captor as ravenously as he would anything else he wanted to learn, few details, however trivial, escaping his attention. What he would do with all this data, he didn't know. Maybe none of it mattered. Maybe he should have been studying the computer set up instead, perhaps set his attention to identifying all those buttons and lights, as what would normally catch his interest. But instead he was filling his head with the details of his enemy: thick, unkempt yet somehow balanced black hair, dashed with streaks of gray that practically sparkled under the harsh overhead lights; a patch of deeply scarred skin racing across his face and down his neck; eyes that stared out from under a heavy brow that didn't seem accustomed to raising. What was perhaps most striking was the softness in those eyes, however. All in all he looked the same as he did last night in the great hall, but somehow the morning brought with it details the inspector had overlooked.

"I'd just like you to know, Dr. Claw," Gadget said as the other man slowly swept his gaze up and down his form. Gadget's tone began as a rebuke then petered out into a soft complaint by the time Claw's greedy gaze met the inspector's eyes. The evil genius seemed so relaxed and at ease even while staring so intensely. Looking away for strength, Gadget continued, "Whatever it is you're planning, it's not going to work. You have my body, but you don't have my mind." He turned a haughty gaze back down at Claw, proud of himself, though he perhaps didn't realize there were other ways to take what he just said. Claw caught it, of course, as evidenced by how his eyes narrowed into focused slits and his tongue teased his upper lip for a brief moment.

Claw leaned forward and slipped his hands behind Gadget's knees to guide/tug him closer. Gadget shot a hand out to the desk beside him for balance, his other hand a ready fist at his side, but otherwise didn't resist, even when he felt metallic fingertips trace up along the backs of his thighs a short distance. He did, however, clench his jaw so hard it ached.

"As perceptive as always, my dear Inspector," Claw replied with a chuckle in his raspy voice. He indulged himself a little longer in feeling his prisoner's legs within his dead hands—the electronic sensors embedded within the metal would have to suffice for sensation for now—and then with a rough swiftness he scooped Gadget onto his lap.

He believed he could hear the inspector's heart pounding within its part organic, part mechanical frame, or was that his own heart that hammered so? Regardless, whatever brave, cool exterior Gadget had built around himself, this forceful action smashed it down. Claw allowed his prisoner the satisfaction of a half-choked cry and a few good slugs to the chest, before immobilizing him with a grip to the back of the neck with one hand, and the other securing Gadget's wrists.

Gadget could have kept fighting, but it was such a rude shock to feel that relentlessly hard hand seize his flesh, as if Claw really did think that humans had scruffs to grab onto like cats did. Any tighter and he feared that hand would snap his neck, so he bade himself to be still. Tears flowed freely as his entire body seemed to shriek for want of freedom and the ability to defend itself. His eyes blazed, though, when they stared down at Claw's, as if to warn him not to mistaken his tears for weakness.

He shivered as Claw pushed their heads closer, meeting at the brow, where they remained for what felt like an eternity. It was hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to understand just what this maniac really intended. As close as he was, he couldn't see the serene half smile on Claw's face, or how his chest expanded with deep breaths. When he spoke, Claw had only to whisper, giving a strange, unearthly quality to his voice. "You are half-right. Your body is now mine, that's correct." Keeping Gadget's forehead pressed against his, Claw gave it a slight rub, not unlike a cat. Only then did he release his hold on Gadget's neck, but not his wrists. Gadget turned his face away from Claw violently the moment he could, hating how close to falling he felt. Claw continued by tapping Gadget's scalp with a silvery finger. "And so is your lovely, lovely mind. Your denial will only slow your progress." A low-pitched chuckle vibrated through Gadget's already shaking body.

"You think I haven't been trained for a situation like this?" Gadget hissed with a boldness considering he was bluffing. Nothing he'd ever been through in his life made this moment any easier. Enraged by the way Claw smirked at his bluff, Gadget shot closer and snarled slowly, "You will fail. Like you do with everything else." His eyes were miserable, but a smug smirk played on his lips for a moment.

Claw's eyes narrowed as he chuckled sarcastically in reply, "Then you have nothing to fear, my dear." He released Gadget's wrists only to seize his hips, by which he pushed Gadget off his lap and held him still while he stood up. "And nothing to lose but time. While we await the cavalry, why don't we see how you do on my equipment." He stroked Gadget's cheek with a finger. Gadget stiffened but didn't turn away. "Consider it practice, if you will." One hand sliding down to rest at the small of Gadget's back, Claw gestured towards the parallel bars with the other.

Gadget jerked himself away from Claw and stood with his arms crossed tightly, glaring at the equipment. "What, did you rob an Olympic team or something? Why do you have all this?" It was a marvel to look at, despite Claw's nefarious purposes.

Claw slunk up behind him, grinning at how he startled the other man just with a hand on the shoulder. "Why, it's all for you!" he answered. "I wanted you to have your exercise while you were here."

Gadget turned a glare to Claw. "That's sick even for you, Claw. Unless you also stole a ladder, I don't see how I'd even get up there."

"You don't want to give it a try?" Claw asked in a syrupy sweet voice, on the verge of cruel laughter. Still holding Gadget by the shoulder, he walked him beneath a large trapeze structure. Hanging and stationary platforms hung down from the top of the structure, but there was no apparent way to climb up there. "Your arms can reach that far, can't they?"

Gadget couldn't bear to look at Claw as he answered through gritted teeth, "They could. Yesterday."

"Ahhhh yes, of course!" Claw intoned with mock gravity. He took one of Gadget's arms in his hands and palpated roughly along its length, while Gadget watched with an ever quickening breath. "I am sorry for the pain my modifications have given you so far. If I could only trust you, we wouldn't have to deal with this precaution. But I am willing to give you access to your system during training."

Gadget looked at Claw at this, some hope mixed in with the bitterness in his eyes.

Encouraged, Claw went on, "Don't think I want you gadget-less forever, my dear. No, that wouldn't do at all; you'd be quite useless to me in that state. You will be fully restored to yourself one day. When you've earned it." His sweetness, fake or not, suddenly evaporated as he shoved Gadget forward and pulled a device out of his pocket. His stylus hovered over the screen and his gaze flicked to the inspector's. "Would you like control of your limb components again?" he asked with a soft tone but a hard face.

"Of cour..." Gadget blurted, then stopped himself. "What's the price?"

This time, Claw's smile was completely genuine, free with its approval. "See how quickly you learn in the right environment," he said, and stepped closer, revealing the screen of his device to Gadget, who looked despite himself. "As you've probably surmised, I've split your system into sub-systems, each of which I can lock down independently of the others. Today you may have your limb extenders. Perform prettily for me, and tomorrow I may let you fly."

"I'd rather never move again than lift a finger for you," Gadget retorted. His glare lost its effect the more he kept trying to peer into the screen in Claw's hand.

"Are you sure?" Claw teased as he delicately pecked out commands on the screen using a stylus. Instantly Gadget felt a luxurious warmth flooding through his arms and legs, seeming to originate from somewhere in his torso. He could not hold back a shuddering moan, and if not for Claw reaching out to grab him, he might have collapsed. Gadget gazed at his arm with hope and dread in equal parts. Claw delicately guided Gadget's chin with his hand upward, inviting him to gaze at the hanging swing-like platforms. "My manor rests atop a fearsome cliff," he went on in a sultry whisper close to Gadget's ear. "You should practice before you make your heroic escape."

Once again his demeanor hardened as he drew away, expectantly awaiting his prisoner to use his gifts. Gadget searched his face for deception, but only found impatient encouragement in his eyes and body language. And as much as Gadget would have loved to deprive Dr. Claw of even that small satisfaction, when Gadget looked back up he realized he could not resist this if he tried. His body seemed to calculate faster than his mind ever could precisely how to fast to run, how vigorously to jump and at what exact moment, to leave the ground. It was as easy as plunging into a warm bed to reach up with arms extended, taking hold of the first platform, while his legs condensed to normal length beneath him. They lengthened again when he propelled himself off the swing and curled around the next one.

Down below, Claw watched with a soft grin and the stylus nib hovering at all times over the tiny screen in his hand. And just to reassure himself, he glanced at the thick pads on the floor directly beneath the trapeze; even if he were forced to lock down Gadget's limb extenders, at least he'd have something soft to fall on. He also divided his attention between watching his captive and the details on his screen. Power usage, stress points, and the like. All this data was being fed into his main computer of course, but knowing Gadget, he had to be ready for anything, anytime.

Gadget meanwhile did not squander this opportunity to learn of his surroundings. His limbs seemed to think and calculate all by themselves, leaving his mind free to observe the cavernous walls surrounding the gym. Each time he shot up into the air, he studied the dark area and thought he could discern a pathway. Or it could have just been a deep recess in the rock, leading nowhere. He also took note of the ceiling and the skeleton of pipes and wires cris-crossing it as he swung and flew through the chilly, damp air.

At some point, he began to have fun. Exhilaration could not quite come close to describing the feeling bubbling in his chest, threatening to suffocate him, though he'd only been deprived of these implants less than a day. He felt Claw's eye on him like a brand, but still he laughed and closed his eyes in pure ecstasy as he flew off a swing and twisted in the air.

But then, without thinking, he called forth his 'copter. He wasn't even trying to defy Dr. Claw, it was as natural a response to his trapeze act as quickened breathing. He called out the words joyously enough, then his expression turned grave a split second before the pain erupted in his head. The helicopter blades actually managed to spear outwards from his head before he could finish the verbal command, but either they were stuck or Gadget was in too much pain, as he could not get them to work. He and his 'copter parts slammed into the pads below.

Claw watched the whole thing with a slow shaking of his head. It was a distressing sight for him: those blades were not supposed to be able to even emerge, as that sub-system was still locked. Did releasing one sub-system make the others less secure, he wondered anxiously. Well, that was why they were doing this, he thought as he jogged over to the stunned cyborg. To learn, to grow.

"Care for another go?" Claw asked with a crude snicker as he climbed onto the mat and kneeled over the inspector's body with its tangled up limbs and bent helicopter blades anchoring it down. When Gadget didn't answer, he nudged him onto his back and stared hard into his face. "Well?" he demanded when he was satisfied that at least Gadget wasn't dead.

Gadget was paler than usual and breathing heavily, but he found the energy to give Claw a hard deadpan expression. "After you," he said.

Claw laughed viciously, then started hauling Gadget up by the shoulder. He might have tried the arm but it was currently stretched across the length of the mat. "Pull your limbs back in," he commanded, then shrugged. "Unless you rather I take care of it."

Gadget didn't have to see the little device to know what Claw meant, and to dread it terribly. He was already in a sitting position, so he concentrated on his legs and condensed the metal components back into their secured position, and then did the same with his arms. The process did not hurt but he was careful about it anyway. That just left the 'copter, which, when he tried to command it back inside his head, he was overcome with a storm of pain and electrical activity behind his eyelids. Quite without thinking, he gripped Claw's arm tightly as he tried to ride it out, but unlike before, the pain did not stop just because he stopped the command. It still kept trying to go back inside. "Turn it off!" he screamed, clawing at his scalp, moans and whimpers falling freely from his gaping open mouth.

Claw just sat there, useless and staring, for an awkward moment. This...this was not the plan. His first thought was how he'd punish his lead computer scientist for not preparing for a situation like this. Then again his hapless employee was the only one who could make heads or tails of the inner workings of Gadget's gadgets, and the only one of the entire team Claw had hired, who had tested the limits of how much an organic creature could withstand an electrical attack like what Gadget was suffering now. Most of the subjects could survive ten minutes...the fatalities arose sharply after that point.

A cold panic soaked Claw to the bone as he held the other man by the shoulders, watching him suffer, but taking no enjoyment from it. Afraid to come into contact with the live sparks buzzing from Gadget's head, Claw shoved him away from himself. Frantically he stabbed his little screen into displaying what was going on. He couldn't decipher the details and would have to seek help on this later, but for now, he just had to keep Gadget alive. All this preparation, all these resources used up, people hired and terminated...Claw could not lose it all now!

After losing time to hesitation, he hit the kill switch, effectively releasing the inspector from the dampening system. All effects of the field were momentarily suspended. Gadget's voice was hoarse and strained, his body shivering, deathly weak. Though the pain had passed, he was left empty and dazed, and quite unable to resist Claw's rough grip on his arm. Gadget fell against Claw's chest, but raised his arms to keep their bodies from touching. This gesture was rendered moot when his head flopped onto Claw's shoulder.

Claw's painful grip eased; his entire self seemed to soften as his arms enveloped the deeply hurt man, and he pressed the side of his face against the other's without resistance. This wasn't so much for his own benefit, just damage control. At that moment, the inspector's gadgets were free again, just like normal. At any moment he could use any of them to escape or even apprehend Claw...if only the inspector knew this. If he weren't so weak and sore, he would have noticed the subtle difference in the vibrations of his system. The fact that Gadget was not doing anything to even try to escape the hug was comforting to Claw, but he knew the moment Gadget realized he was free...well he didn't need to think about that. He simply wouldn't ever let it get to that point ever again.

He thought nothing of holding Gadget close, now that there weren't any rogue electrical sparks to worry about. While part of his attention was devoted to stroking the back of his captive's head, Claw reactivated the field. The hand in Gadget's hair momentarily tightened as a jolt passed through them both as every component in Gadget's body was forced to switch its vibration to match the field. Then he locked every sub-system down with one convenient button, slipped the controller back into its pocket, and embraced Gadget with both arms, rocking him slightly.

By now the inspector was coming back to his senses. He was no stranger to pain as a result from his implants, though admittedly he couldn't remember that last time they'd ever backfired that dramatically. Regardless, he was a lot more conscious and aware of Claw's actions than he appeared. He paid attention to the little device Claw messed with, and though he didn't catch exactly what happened, nor did he realize when the field had been shut off, at least he knew about that device now, and where it was located. Even as he passively allowed Claw to hold him, Gadget thought intensely about that device.

At length Claw looked down upon Gadget, lifting his face upwards. Gadget made his expression go blank; he had to quiet much of his thoughts to accomplish this. "You know what happened, don't you?" Claw rasped.

Gadget's eyes flashed with intense life for a second. Then they dimmed again. "No," he whispered.

Claw gave a gentle half-smile. "You got greedy," he was happy to explain. "I restored your limb extenders to you, but you simply had to have your little helicopter as well." A condescending head-shake added to the smile as he drove his hard fingers through tangled hair.

Gadget gave a small, test effort to pull away but Claw's hold was like a block of ice. Glaring boldly at Claw, he retorted, "You said I could practice. So I practiced. If I wasn't supposed to use a particular gadget you should have told me." The inspector even found the boldness to scoff derisively, "Really, Claw, if this is how you do you things no wonder your crime empire gets a little smaller every single day." Nestled in the crime lord's arms, Gadget enjoyed a smug grin, his eyes blazing with not hatred, but a sense of superiority. Or at least that's how it looked to Claw, who had to consciously tell himself not to snap the other man's neck as he spoke.

So he kissed him instead. He got to enjoy a look of unshielded panic on Gadget's face as he held his head still by the hair and dove in. Gadget held his mouth closed against him, but Claw didn't care. The kiss didn't last long and it was not of the French variety but as Claw expected and hoped, it electrified them both. Maybe one enjoyed it more than the other, but for that moment, they were connected, body and electromagnetic field.

"I do apologize, my dear inspector," Claw replied, now back to his usual self-assured demeanor. "I am so accustomed to absolute obedience, I expected the same of you before you'd even had a chance to assimilate yourself to your new home. I would hate to have to...instruct you so severely again, so next time, I suggest you listen very carefully to my instructions."

Gadget's hatred was cold, quiet, seemingly passive. He let his body rest completely in Claw's arms and looked him in the eye as was expected, and yet he answered simply, "This is not my home."

Gadget held Dr. Claw in a sort of spell for a moment at those words. Claw released himself with a shaky laugh and tenderly, but firmly, pressed their brows together. "You sound like me," he sighed. Then he pecked a kiss on Gadget's brow as he broke the embrace and lifted him to his feet. "And, like me, you're strong enough to get through this," he said as he led Gadget to the front of the room. He stopped and held the other man at arm's length, gazing at him as if for the first time. "And you will make a home where there wasn't one before. I see such great things for you, Gadget, truly I do. You hate me now, and you may hate me forever, but that doesn't change the future I see for you." When he smiled, Gadget winced. "Even my death can't change what I've put into motion for you! In case you were wondering," he laughed a bit too loudly, and grabbed Gadget by the back of the collar with a harsh roughness.

This was the point where Talon ended the video feed. It looked like they were done for now, and he figured he'd be expected to escort Gadget back to his room, so he needed the head start. Seemed like every place he needed to go in this miserable dungeon was miles apart. He ran not just to avoid his uncle's wrath for being late, but because he had to. He couldn't keep still after what he'd heard. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions, maybe Claw's words were more fiction than truth, meant to entice Gadget into a false sense of importance, but he couldn't stop them from echoing in his mind with every step.

Claw spoke a future...did that future include his nephew?

"Ugh, why are you so sweaty?" was Claw's greeting when Talon appeared at the door. But Talon ignored this; the moment he entered the room he sought out Gadget's eyes with his own. The inspector didn't seem to want to look at him, his gaze fleeting and unsteady.

Talon threw a look to Claw. "Are you guys done?"

"For now, yes," Claw responded, handing Gadget off to the younger man. "We pick up again tonight at 6. Can you remember that, Talon?"

Talon took a moment longer than usual to answer, and his gaze was hard. "Yep, 6 o'clock, we'll be here. Anything else?" His heart raced despite himself as he noticed the way his uncle's eyes narrowed at him.

Claw made a dismissive gesture and flicked his gaze back to Gadget, where it remained even as Talon started walking him out. Once they both left, Claw retreated to his computer and had to grip the monitor a moment as his body quivered brutally. With effort he sat down and started pulling up the recordings of that morning's session, though his own mind was much harder to organize. He let the video play as he unclasped the spiky bracelets on his wrists, revealing a seam in the metal glove at the wrist. With a quick and practiced motion he removed the cuff part of the gloves from his arms and put them on the desk along with the bracelets. Those were merely for show, an aesthetic choice on his part, just like the form he chose for the hands. He had a modest collection of prosthetic hands in that very desk, but he wasn't interested in swapping them out just now. All that electrical activity had messed with him, one effect was that he felt himself filled up with static charge, which he now eased by passing a device over his hands, arms, and chest. He tossed it onto the desk and let out a ragged sigh as he settled in to watch, as always, Inspector Gadget on his little screen.


End file.
